Programme Director – GM Diagnostics Network | The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Posting date:	21 January 2026
Salary:	Not specified
Additional salary information:	£76,965 - £88,682 per annum pro rata
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	20 February 2026
Location:	Manchester, M20 4BX
Company:	The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
Job type:	Contract
Job reference:	7750423/413-102421-GMC-SNR

Summary

A Programme Director is required to deliver a whole system approach to improving health and care outcomes for the population of Greater Manchester.

GM Diagnostic Network works collaboratively with the ICB, GM provider trusts in secondary care, primary care networks, public health, regional and national teams, and with a wide variety of stakeholders including NHS provider and locality staff and teams, voluntary sector and patients; to improve system-wide outcomes for the Greater Manchester and East Cheshire population and influencing national policy.


The postholder will provide a significant contribution to the delivery of the GM Diagnostic Network strategy, aims and objectives by leading and delivering complex transformational programmes and projects that span multiple GM organisations, supporting improvements, recovery, and transformation through the GM-wide Diagnostic Network Boards/Clinical Reference Groups at a system level across Greater Manchester.


The postholder will work in partnership with regional and national stakeholders, internal teams, and partner organisations to ensure their programme of work is delivered within agreed timescales. The postholder will be expected to act independently, taking timely and challenging decisions and managing the complexities of system-wide working, to ensure delivery to improve outcomes, managing and reporting of risks/issues and sharing of successes with internal NHS and external stakeholders.





The postholder will be directly line managing a team of staff including programme and project managers

The post holder will working collaboratively with regional and national stakeholders to lead transformation programmes across the GM system to support the delivery of national and local diagnostic strategies.

They will leading the GM-wide multi-disciplinary diagnostic network Boards’ programmes of work and project/programme managers and co-ordinate and contribute to the GM Diagnostic Network system-wide programmes of work, including developing and managing programme and project plans, reporting progress, and undertaking risk and issue management to ensure effective and timely delivery of the NHSE directives and the GM Diagnostic delivery plan.


We are looking for an autonomous individual with experience in one of the specialties within the remit of the Diagnostic Network who will drive transformation, liaising with key stakeholders across the system to improve experience and outcomes for patients and families in Greater Manchester and East Cheshire.

The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres, treating over 60,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 15% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country.

We provide radiotherapy through one of the largest radiotherapy departments in the world; chemotherapy on site and through 14 other hospitals; highly specialist surgery for complex and rare cancer; and a wide range of support and diagnostic services. We are also an international leader in research, with world first breakthroughs for over 100 years.

We run one of the largest early clinical trial units in Europe with over 300 trials every year. Cancer research in Manchester, most of which is undertaken on the Christie site, has been officially ranked the best in the UK.

1. Specific responsibilities include:

• Working collaboratively with regional and national stakeholders to lead transformation programmes across the GM system to support the delivery of national and local diagnostic strategies
• Leading the GM-wide multi-disciplinary diagnostic network Boards’ programmes of work and project/programme managers.
• Co-ordinate and contribute to the GM Diagnostic Network system-wide programmes of work, including developing and managing programme and project plans, reporting progress, and undertaking risk and issue management to ensure effective and timely delivery of the NHSE directives and the GM Diagnostic delivery plan. Reporting to the Managing Director, Associate Director, the Diagnostic & Pharmacy Partnership Group and associated boards and committees as required. This requires considerable concentration for prolonged periods of time multiple times a week as a high workload volume and engagement is a regular feature of the role.
• Creation of complex bids for funding for GM system-wide adoption
• Directly line manage and provide support for the Programme and Project managers.
• Support the Boards and Clinical Reference Groups and Clinical Leads to effectively develop and progress the work programmes.
• Align and collaborate with the GM Diagnostic Network team for the cross-cutting elements of the GM Diagnostics delivery plan (matrix working and with interdependencies)
• Create reports and updates for the GM Diagnostic Network review/assurance system to ensure that any significant issues/risks are identified early, reported to the relevant body, and that mitigating actions are approved and actioned within the agreed timescale.
• Ensure that project management best practice is adhered to, with communication of the programmes /projects and their progress shared with the system-wide stakeholders.
• Maintain and update any programme risks within the GM Diagnostic Network risk register.
• Support the development of work programmes, taking responsibility for ensuring coherence across the individual programmes and projects, to progress these in accordance with respective and frequently tight timelines, with swift adaptation in light of emerging priorities.
• Ensure all reports to the Diagnostic & Pharmacy Partnership Group and other boards/committees are constructed in a consistent and clear manner.
• Ensure that work programmes and associated documentation are available for reference and audit by internal/external bodies.


2. Key Working Relationships
The post holder will be required to nurture relationships and have regular contact with local, regional, and national stakeholders, and will often need to engage with them over sensitive, complex, contentious, and confidential issues relating to NHSE priorities for diagnostic services.

The postholder will participate in relevant internal and external working groups/projects, services, and initiatives to provide information, analytical advice, and expertise. They will:

• Ensure the evidence and data that supports any clinical redesign is collected and archived for future audit.
• Present information and issues, explaining highly complex issues, to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders and audiences, adapting communication methods to overcome any barriers to communication.
• Liaise with other managers, clinicians, and organisations to share programme and project management experience and best practice in the context of cancer delivery and outcomes.
• Engage with patient and public representatives to understand and improve experiences of care and promote their voice within the programmes of work.
• Forge positive working relationships within the GM Diagnostic Network and regionally/nationally, to support an effective matrix approach to achieving NHS objectives.

3. Functional Responsibilities

3.1 Operational Requirements
• Working within the NHSE objectives, to input into the GM Diagnostic strategy, implement and monitor.
• Develop, and evaluate best practice, to ensure this best practice is delivered across GM at organisational levels. Challenge ways of working and persuade, motivate, and influence other senior managers to realign their practice where necessary.
• Present complex information on all aspects of practice in a clear, understandable, and audience-appropriate manner to senior management and board level groups, locally, regionally, and nationally
• Personally lead, support, and contribute to formal negotiations with senior level staff from external stakeholders, providing a high level of negotiating expertise to secure the most advantageous arrangements
• Lead on the postholder’s identified programmes including programme performance improvement measures and corrective actions, ensuring these have been agreed by all stakeholders.
• Responsible for proposing and/or implementing programmes of work and innovations within the diagnostics that improve GM-wide services.
• Manage and reconcile conflicting views, sometimes in a hostile/emotive environment, to ensure delivery of these programmes.
• Track, analyse and report progress to respective Boards, both internal and external to GM Diagnostic Network and GM-wide organisations.
• Provide co-ordination of, and participate in, relevant internal and external working groups and provide relevant and timely specialist advice and guidance as required on diagnostics services and delivery.
• Work with members of the GM Diagnostic Network teams to assure delivery of the GM Diagnostic plan, investigate the causes of any variance from target/plan and proactively contribute to the implementation of solutions. Ensure there is an audit trail for all changes in accordance with the agreed process.
• Lead on the risk and issues tracking for the postholders identified programmes of work ensuring regular review, issue resolution and/or escalation in a timely manner to meet GM Diagnostic plan requirements.
• Contribute to the response for any external audit, producing the documentary material and external briefing packs for reviewers.
• Devise, manage and update policies and procedures, ensuring the adoption of best practice methodology, rules, standards, and thresholds. Disseminating these methodologies etc. to staff within the department and throughout the organisation
• Responsible for writing papers and reports, and presenting verbally at relevant groups/meeting, requiring concentration and analysis of complex information.
• Participation in local, regional, and national boards/groups/meetings requiring frequent extended concentration.

3.2 Financial and Physical Resources
• The post holder will have budgetary responsibility for a function (programme and projects) and the services provided within that function including evaluating the value for money of new contracts, monitoring the performance of existing providers and ensuring that provider performance aligns, and complies, with contractual terms and conditions.
• The postholder will be responsible for budgets associated with the management of the function.
• Reporting of spend for local, regional, and national financial returns.
• Accountable for authorising expenditure of pathway programmes of work in line with agreed delegated authorities/decision rights
• Provide regular reporting on resources and ongoing monitoring of implementation from a value for money perspective.
• Responsible for evaluation of project/programme delivery against the budget, through providing a high-quality system-wide project analysis.
• Ensure these budgets operate in recurrent financial balance year on year.

3.3 Staff Management
• Lead a team of programme/project managers, ensuring human resource functions and recruitment activity is performed.
• Line management responsibility for direct reports and through direct reports to other members of the team.
• To develop staff within the team to ensure they can deliver the new responsibilities of the NHS. Perform and ensure all appraisals are undertaken regularly, including career development, both directly as the line manager and across the postholder’s team
• Update and maintain all direct report’s staff records.
• Management of HR procedures such as capability and disciplinary procedures. Undertaking staff consultation and in consideration of welfare and safety matters, taking into account instructions and guidelines issued
• To lead on recruitment and performance manage the team to deliver projects/programmes within a matrix structure, within the challenging environment of healthcare across GM.

3.4 Information Management
• Devise and provide improvements to current management information, suggesting procedures to enhance decision making processes.
• Analyse highly complex cancer information from a variety of sources, with data that may change rapidly and is often incomplete, from across the GM provider trusts and localities and nationally, including sources external to the NHS.
• Ensure timely and accurate information analysis and reporting to the relevant bodies and boards on agreed areas of work.
• Responsible for the collection and reporting on information of expenditure both within GM Diagnostic Network and across organisations participating in GM-wide projects led by the Network, including compliance and exception reporting.
3.5 Research and Development
• Contribute to the development of key performance indicators for research and development for diagnostic pathways.
• Draw from experience and expertise in other academic fields and industries, to ensure the system benefits from relevant innovations, and that innovations are realised by the stakeholder organisations.
• Ensure the evaluation of transformation projects and the sustainability of successful projects through business cases as required.

Please refer to the attached Job Description for the full list of responsibilities


This advert closes on Wednesday 4 Feb 2026

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